File photo. Photo: 123rf
Requests for official information are on the rise on the West Coast, including some described as 'vexatious'.
A report to Tuesday's Operations Committee meeting shows the West Coast Regional Council handled 39 LGOIMA (Local Government Official Information and Meeting Act) requests in the June quarter.
Nine involved the Taylorville Resource Park consent application.
A resource consent hearing for the controversial private dump near Greymouth is set down for two days next month.
Compliance visits to mining sites; council staff and contractor numbers; Buller plateau mining consents and all records on historic demolition waste also featured in the list of LGOIMA requests.
All but two of the requests were processed in the statutory timeframe, the report said.
The Ombudsman had contacted the council once over a report the council initially refused to release.
The council had revised its decision but due to an 'internal error' still failed to release the report.
That had been rectified, and an apology provided for the error, the report said.
The majority of requests were granted in full or in part.
The council withheld information on some requests involving the Taylorville Resource Park, on the grounds of protecting commercial information, legal privilege, privacy and free and frank expression of views by or to council staff.
Chief executive Darryl Lew said the council had to be mindful of the Privacy Act and be meticulous with redactions in its responses.
"It is an ever-increasing and concerning amount of time we put into this. But it's part of transparency (requirements for local government)."
Some of the LGOIMA requests could be considered frivolous, he confirmed.
"In the legislation, whether they are frivolous, vexatious, recidivist…we've still got to meet their requests. "
Chair Peter Haddock said council had been criticised for having too many staff but dealing with 13 or 14 LGOIMA requests a month meant a massive amount of work.
"Just looking through some of them, some are coming from the same people all the time, you can read it like a book, and it all comes at a cost to ratepayers. "
The simpler requests were being handled in-house, but the more complex ones were still managed by a contractor, staff confirmed.
LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
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